AN: Thanks again for the reviews. They always help me to write the next part of the story. You should review now if you like the story and want it continued. (Insert evil laugh here)
"You did it all for fun!" Jazz had almost flipped over the table from how fast she had stood up.
"The stress must have finally gotten to him." Tucker had his face in his hands but was smiling and laughing softly.
"This one really needs explaining. But first, I should have some food." Danny stuffed his mouth with cereal and took a drink from his glass.
The friends had been served breakfast courtesy of Sam's pantry. It featured a gourmet meal of cereal, muffins, and most importantly orange juice. It wasn't exactly gourmet but it was the best things to eat that required the minimal amount of effort and they were the first couple of things that they saw.
"I'll explain everything to you guys at school tomorrow. Just be sure to save me a seat at lunch." Danny gave them all a wave and smile and phased out the house.
"Man, I really wished I had ghost powers."
"My little brother is a hopeless cause."
"We'll tell you all about it as soon as we can."
"Thanks. I'm going to head home. I have to finish a history project today."
"And then they were fewer." Tucker said as he took out his PDA.
Casper High the following morning. Mr. Lancer's 1st period class.
"Does anyone know where Danny is?" Mr. Lancer had taken a pause from his lesson after he noticed that class would be over in 15 minutes and the seat between his two friends was still empty. "He never has been this late before."
"Who cares about where that loser is anyway? I say that the class is better off without him. Now we only have to deal with the freak duo."
"People who show concern for their fellow man Mr. Baxter. It would also do nice to not insult someone who's getting better grades than you are and he's hardly in class."
Everyone knew Fenton's grades were bad but for Dash's to be worse pretty much confirmed what they knew already. Dash only passed because he helped the school's sports teams with the only thing he was good at besides bullying Danny.
"I would like to speak to Mr. Foley and Ms. Manson outside. If I hear a peep come from this room, everyone last one of you will have detention for 2 months to start off with. What I have planned next will make you have nightmares until you graduate from college."
Mr. Lancer opened the door and ushered Sam and Tucker into the hall and shortly followed them out. They went to the teacher lounge to avoid any of the students listening into their conversation while Mr. Lancer had a teacher they passed go watch his class.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush with you 2. Where is Mr. Fenton? I would like the truth by the way." Mr. Lancer said as soon as he closed the door.
"He texted is on the way to school that he had woken up sick and asked us to get his work for him." Tucker pulled out his phone and showed Mr. Lancer the message and proved Sam right. The time stamp on the message said it was sent at 7:30, a half hour before school even started.
"I suppose I'll get the same answer if I call his parents?"
"I don't think that his parents would allow him to pretend about being sick Mr. Lancer. I'm pretty sure his mom studied medicine a little while back."
"I'll arrange for you 2 to receive Danny's work for the next couple days then. Tell him I wish him good health." Mr. Lancer led them back to the classroom and he resumed his lesson.
What his friends told him wasn't a lie but probably wasn't the full truth. Danny had been perfectly fine last night and didn't get sick easily because of his ghost side. Even if he caught a cold at night by some chance, it would be gone before he went down for breakfast in the morning. They did wonder about the reason he didn't come to school toady even after promising to tell them about his motives for the interview. Danny had never broken a promise to them before and they doubted he would do it without good reason to.
Danny Phantom Last Night…
Danny had to love the ability to fly the most out of all his powers. He liked the other ones but the feeling of flying over everything else really had a special place in his heart. He was brought out of his sense of glee by seeing birds freeze in midair and hearing a familiar voice say 2 all too familiar words.
"Time out."
He let out a sigh but turned around to face his mentor. The Master of Time ghost, Clockwork. He really didn't want to talk to Clockwork about the interview or anything else that was going on right now. He would probably only scold him for it without hearing any excuses. He was never really for revealing that halfas existed to the general populace. He knew that Clockwork wouldn't let time flow freely again until he had talked to Danny. Either be stuck like this forever or get scolded by Clockwork.
"Hey Clockwork. Did the Observants send you or is this just a very unlike you social call." Danny's mind was pretty much made up when he realized that Clockwork had a lot more patience than him. There was absolutely no way that he could try to make Clockwork resume the timeline by playing the waiting game.
"I'm here to talk to you Danny." Danny swore the time ghost had a smile on his face replacing his usual passive expression. Danny was pretty dumbstruck since his tone was light and he didn't sound like he was about to scold him. "The talk is serious and we need to really have it now."
"About what. Usually you just send me a letter. Must be important to get you out of your tower."
"It is and I'm afraid it can't wait any longer."
"I'm all ears."
"A war is coming Danny. Pariah had been recruiting an army to take you down."
Danny was pretty shocked that he chose to talk about this instead of the interview. He already knew about Pariah's plan to take the kingship from him. He even had a few of his own allies planted in his army already. The promise of a power boost made a good amount of ghosts switch sides. Even a few of the more powerful ones accepted his offer. Those that didn't had their memories wiped of the encounter.
"I figured out that much. Doesn't he have to fight me alone to take the kingship though?"
"He knows that Danny. Pariah is no fool. He is vengeful though. I've seen how he had dealt with those who have wronged him in the past and you have currently taken the spot at the top of his list."
"I'll just beat him again along with his army then." Danny had a small smile appear on his face as he thought about the fight. "I could use a good workout anyway."
"He wants to make you suffer Danny. He doesn't care about the kingship anymore. This is pure vengeance. This won't be a fight. He plans to torture you."
"What could he do to me that someone hasn't already done to me before? Shock me, break my legs, my arms, burn me, or just plain old beating me. It's all happened before. I'll just push through it and give it back 100 times over to him and everyone that chose to help him."
"This is unlike anything you have felt before. He won't settle for that type of torture. He wants to break you to your core. Your mind, body, and spirit."
"How? I'm sure as hell won't let him inside my head anytime soon."
"He means to kill everyone important to you Danny. Your family, friends, supporters, and everything else that has been important to you or encouraged you the entire time that you have been this town's protector."
Danny's smile had left his face and he was uncharacteristically silent as he let that sink in but Clockwork wasn't finished yet.
"You've felt a feeling like this before. When you future self did it to you. That will feel nothing like what Pariah has planned. I could save them once but a second time is something that I can't do."
"Why can't you? What's stopping me from killing Pariah and destroying his little army right now? We both know that I can just go there and wreck the place along with all of them. The Ghost Zone and Earth will both be better off without him anyway."
"Becoming Dan. You know that the moment you give in to those types of emotions that you'll become even worse than he was. You wouldn't even have absorbed Vlad's ghost half. He has changed for the better in this timeline but you are extremely close to the edge my apprentice. You would be even worse than him and wouldn't stop until everyone who has wronged you has perished. Your sense of revenge will just consume you entirely."
"So I'm just going to have to let this happen then. I can't just go and stop it from happening or even beginning now?"
"You can stop him. It just needs to be in the right way. Gather allies and then fight him in the Ghost Zone."
"I don't need any allies! I can take on his entire army with both hands tied behind my back!"
"You know exactly why you can't do that. You'll lose control just like before. Last time I was there but this time I won't be able to help you."
"I can take care of myself! Last time was an accident anyway. I just lost my head for a second."
"Last time you almost destroyed the Ghost Zone along with everyone and everything in it with your wail. But right now you're getting frustrated and becoming dangerously close to having an even worse repeat." Clockwork let out a sigh and waved his staff to open a time portal. "Since you won't listen to me now. I'll show you what happens on the path that you're choosing."
Danny was blinded by a white light and sucked into the portal. When his vision returned along with his bearings, he saw that he was in the Ghost Zone and more specifically outside Pariah's Keep.
"Just watch."
Danny took Clockwork's advice and just stared at the field outside the keep. I'm just seeing the plain old ground. Really frightening. Danny's thought became interrupted when he saw a figure appear in the distance and heading extremely fast towards the keep. There was no doubt in his mind that it was him. The only thing that was different was that he had red eyes and was in the King Phantom form. He landed on the ground and made a ball about the size of a marble and flicked it towards the keep. The moment it impacted an explosive cloud appeared and even the present Danny could feel the shockwave. When the smoke cleared Danny's saw that everything was completely destroyed and the only thing left was a large crater. A large ghost shield had protected the inhabitants of the castle from any harm. The shield was dropped and Pariah floated up to meet him.
"Nice try Phantom. I will not be defeated easily though. I am the rightful king of the Ghost Zone Pariah…"
Danny had appeared behind him in the blink in an eye and stabbed his newly formed ice sword through his chest. Everyone grasped in shock at how fast Danny had moved and a few of the more easily frightened ones fled for their afterlives to a safer place.
"I wouldn't care if you were god right now. I'm going to kill you and each and every last one of your goons for what you did." Danny's voice was so cold that he could have sworn that even Dan would take a few steps back out of fear. "I'm going to save you for last though."
Danny ripped the sword from Pariah's chest and let him free fall to the crater that used to be where his keep was.
"My Lord!" Fright Knight sent Nightmare to catch the fallen ghost only to have it be consumed by green fire. "Nightmare!"
"Don't worry. I'm going to send you after your beloved mount really soon." Danny flicked Pariah's blood off of his sword and pointed it towards Fright Knight. "In fact, I'll take your afterlife next."
Danny lunged at Fright Knight, who had already drawn Soul Shredder, and fought him in a fierce duel. After a while of being on the defensive Danny decided to go on the attack. He went for Fright Knight's sword hand and sent a quick strike towards. Fright Knight moved back and parried the rest of Danny's blow. He brought his sword up for an overhead slash but instead fired his eye beams at Danny's heart. A black chest plate appeared and deflected it though. Danny parried his slash and floated back a bit.
"I'll blind you the next time you try that trick Fright Knight." Fright Knight threw a crystal meteor at Danny who simply chopped in half. "This would be more fun as a proper duel but I'll let you join your beloved mount right now."
In a burst of speed, so fast that he left an afterimage, he cut off Fright Knights hand gripping Soul Shredder and then cut him diagonally across the chest.
"You really should have played by the rules." Danny appeared behind Fright Knight and cut off his head with a quick swipe. "Next is the one who wanted my pelt."
All eyes immediately fell on Skulker who tried to fly away from Danny but he was easily caught by a duplicate and was blasted back towards the real Danny. Danny had an insane smile on his face and did something unexpected. Danny tossed his sword straight up in to the air. He rushed towards Skulker, grabbed Skulker's right arm, and literally tore it off with brute strength alone. He did the same with the other arm and then kicked off his head. He looked down the suits neck and saw Skulker's real form cowering in fear and begging for mercy.
"I never did like you weakling." Danny's sword came down and stabbed Skulkers real form through the head, killing him instantly. He looked back to the other ghosts and started to fire off energy waves and beams at all of them. Clockwork finally stopped the time stream and Danny felt himself be sick.
"That is why you must listen to me. Now I'll show you something even worse that happens on your current path."
"What the hell could be worse than this? I became a monster worse than Dan! He just killed them while I played with them like some deranged little kid!"
"What sent you off on this rampage." Clockwork's staff flashed a bright light and the next moment they were in front of a house. The problem was that Danny knew this house and didn't want to believe what probably happened.
"No." Danny's voice was barely above a whisper. Clockwork led them inside through the door and Danny saw 2 bodies immediately. He looked up to Clockwork with a pleading look. "Don't show me this Clockwork."
"I'm afraid it must be done."
The first one was right by the door and was unmistakably Pamela Manson. The second one by the steps was Jeremy. They both had their eyes open and just gazed at the ceiling. This only served to frighten Danny more than he already was if that was possible.
"Who did this?"
"Go upstairs and you'll find them."
Danny and Clockwork walked up the stairs and he headed towards Sam's room. Clockwork didn't hesitate in opening the door to show him what was inside. Danny heard an ear-piercing scream and covered his ears to not go deaf. He simply saw himself holding Sam's body and sobbing loudly. Ghost Hunters and police flooded the room and had their weapons at the ready.
"Freeze! We know you've killed these people!"
Danny at first did not respond but eventually laid Sam's body on the floor and spoke.
"Why the hell would I still be here than Maddie." Danny had gained his icy cold voice and everyone in the room felt it. Danny just simply picked up Sam's body and set her on her bed before a blast hit his back causing him to stumble.
"I said freeze! Fire!" Maddie's command caused everyone else to shoot at the distraught ghost until he eventually slumped to his knees and fell over the bed. "Jack get the thermos."
"Right here."
Danny pulled the thermos to him and incinerated it as soon as it reached his outstretched hand.
"I'm going to kill each and every single last one of you." Danny turned around to reveal red eyes and his black rings went over his body. This time though he had full armor on with his Danny Phantom logo on his chest plate and a large one on the back of his cape. His hands glowed blood red this time instead of their usual green.
Clockwork returned them to the present before Danny fired off the first blast. As soon as they were back Danny punched Clockwork and sent him into a nearby apartment building.
"Why the hell would you show me that!?" Danny landed and grabbed his mentor by his collar and raised him up to his eye level.
"Calm down for a second Danny." Clockwork's face was passive but Danny could see that if he fought against him he had no chance of beating the Master of Time.
"Alright. Just explain. Please." Danny let his mentor go and took a couple steps back along with a few deep breaths.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me because you're stubborn Danny. It was the Observants' idea to show you all that. I eventually gave in to it after seeing the other way this encounter went and the path you took." Clockwork summoned his staff and waved it over where he hit the wall, repairing it to its state before he hit it. "There was no other way to do this."
"You're right that I'm stubborn but I didn't need to see all of that. You couldn't try anything else!"
"Will you listen to me now though? Otherwise you'll kill the Mansons in cold blood along with everyone else that was in that room!" Clockwork had raised his voice and he knew his mentor was serious. He decided that he had no choice but to listen to him.
"Yeah. I'll start to gather my allies tomorrow. Can you gather some for me tonight? I just really need to go to sleep right now. I feel like I haven't slept in days."
"It will be my pleasure Danny. Meet me at my tower in the morning. It will probably be an all-day affair."
"Coming from the master of time probably means definitely." They both gave a small laugh at this and Clockwork opened a portal to his realm.
"I'm sorry for what you had to see Danny, but it had to be done to take you off the path of destruction." Clockwork set his hand on Danny's shoulder as a comforting gesture. "Time in."
He vanished through the portal and time resumed again. People were astonished to see a shocked Phantom in the middle of the street. They didn't remember seeing him a second ago.
"Where did you come from?"
Danny regained his senses and flew off before any more questions could be asked. He turned invisible a few blocks from his house. He flew into his room and set his alarm 10 minutes earlier than usual. He passed out the second he fell on his bed. He already had a plan on how to go in the Ghost Zone tomorrow.
He woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock and was up in an instant. He was surprised that he didn't have a nightmare about what he saw. That only meant that they would come later though. He shut off the alarm clock with an energy blast and went ghost to activate his ice powers. He made a life size, blank doll, in his bed and had black rings go over his arm to summon the reality gauntlet. He made the doll into a clone of himself with a fever and a few other signs of being sick. Should be enough to fool dear old mom and dad. I have a link with it anyway. I'll set it to autopilot for now though.
"That should fool them. I'll have to tell the others ASAP though." He phased out of his room towards the basement lab and activated the portal. "I could send them a text though."
He pulled out his phone and sent all 4 of them the message: Out sick today. Get work for me Sam and Tucker. Talk to you all later. Danny. He jumped into the portal and felt the familiar feeling of the zone's energy. He didn't know what allies that Clockwork had managed to gather for him if any did agree in the first place without wanting something. He always had the ones he planted in Pariah's army though. He could still get updates on what was happening from them. He eventually snapped out of his thoughts and headed for Clockwork's tower.
AN: Clockwork has finally made an appearance. I need a suggestion for a character to power up if anyone has one in mind. I have a few but they seem a bit too strong already. Reviews are always welcomed.